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Welcome to Nasdaq trade talks,

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where we meet with the
top thought leaders and

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strategists and
emerging technologies,

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digital assets and regulatory

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landscape and capital markets.

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I'm your host, Jill Malandrino,

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and joining me on the desk
at the Nasdaq market site.

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We have Chris Dearborn,
managing director on

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the Nasdaq Market intelligence
desk, Michael Normile,

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US economist at Nasdaq,
and Chris Engelbert,

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founding partner and CIO of
Engelbert Financial Advisors.

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We're here to discuss
key themes to watch in

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2026 and why the
market environment

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could be a return to normal.

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It's great to have
all of you with us.

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Welcome back to Trade Talks.

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And Chris return to normal.

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Certainly subjective
feeling isn't it?

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Yeah, it is Jill.

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But you know now
we're going to be in

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2026 six years out from Covid.

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Covid again sets the standard.

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When people historians
take a look back,

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they're going to be saying,
well, wait a minute,

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what was happening
economically then?

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And how are we getting
back to normal?

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And we think the two biggest
areas are the yield curve.

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We're going to get
lower short term rates.

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Obviously the fed signaled that.

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But we're trying to tell
people you got to watch on

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the long end because
inflation is not dead.

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The second big theme
is the fact that,

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you know, it's not going to
be all about the Mag seven.

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We're seeing that in the
last couple of weeks.

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It's going to be the
other 493 stocks.

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And so when I say
return to normal,

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return to normalized markets.

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But there's one caveat
we have for 2026 is

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that we believe
there's going to be

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higher volatility out there.

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And the reason being is you
know fed policy mistakes.

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And we are getting
a new fed governor.

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Valuations are still extremely

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high in certain
sectors of the market.

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And you know also we
have midterm elections.

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And so we had 120%
drawdown in 2025.

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Everybody was you know
for that month was

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like you know oh man we're
having a tariff tantrum.

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You know what do we do.

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Well now you know the
markets recovered,

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they went on to new highs.

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But we're facing
challenges in 26.

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It's not going to be after

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three consecutive up
years in the market.

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You know again you know
nobody likes to hear that.

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Investing is kind
of like gambling.

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But you know we've got a lot of

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blackjack 21 going on here.

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And we are concerned
going into 26.

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Speaking of 21 right.

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What's Nasdaq 100 up about
roughly 21% ish since

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the February or whatever
the the April. I'm sorry.

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Yeah. Um, you know,

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getting double digits starting
with a two, you know,

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for a number of years in a row

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is very unusual. It's unusual.

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And look, as a long term
investor, I'll take that,

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especially having
acquired shares in

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my 401 K at less
expensive levels.

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So I guess you could include
that as part of the cycle.

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Um, you know, Michael, Michael,

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turning to the macro
for a minute here,

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it seems to be the
focus is really on jobs

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and what those numbers
are translating to.

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Yeah, we got a big double
update this morning,

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with the October and
November numbers

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coming out all at
once because of

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the government shutdown
earlier this year,

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delaying those numbers.

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And it was pretty
much as expected.

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The headline looks a
lot worse than it is.

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So for October it shows just
over 100,000 jobs lost.

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That's because 160,000
federal jobs were lost.

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But again, that was
something that we

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knew going into it
for the most part.

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And that's because
that goes back to

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those buyouts that
were initiated

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back in the end of January,

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where they paid workers
through September.

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So those people that
accepted those buyouts,

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they fell off the
payrolls in October.

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And so that's why we saw that

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160,000 drop in those
federal workers.

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And so the private number is

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actually positive about 60,000.

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And then for a
similar similar range

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for November as well.

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So it's not too bad.

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And if you look at the last
three months it's about

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75,000 private payrolls
added per month.

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So it's not blowout numbers,

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especially if you
take into account

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what Fed Chair Powell was
saying last week where they

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think that the jobs
numbers are overstated

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by about 60,000 in
their initial prints.

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And that goes back to

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the annual revisions
that we have based

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on kind of wonky
birth death models

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that they have for businesses,

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leading to kind of a
persistent overstatement.

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So it means that we're
still seeing job gains,

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but not huge job gains.

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The positive story, though,

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is that if you're looking at

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the surveys that
small businesses do,

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that the regional feds do,

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those show some improving
trends in hiring plans,

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as the hope for 2026 is.

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We're getting these tax cuts,

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we're getting a lower fed rates,

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there's reduced
uncertainty and all that

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combining to a little bit

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of improvement in
hiring as well.

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Yeah. You know Chris,
it's interesting

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when we talk about
returning to normal

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and we're six years out from

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Covid right. There
was no roadmap.

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It doesn't seem like. Right.
But there was no roadmap.

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But guess what?

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We also went through
the financial crisis.

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There was really no
roadmap for that either.

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And yet the markets
continue to do what

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the markets continue to
do over the long term.

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It's definitely a
risk on environment

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for the last three
quarters, right.

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Especially since
the tariff tantrum,

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you've kind of worked
through a lot of

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different items, um,
economic uncertainty,

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inflation being a little
bit more persistent

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towards 3% than 2%, um,

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uncertainty out of fed policy,

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uncertainty out of policy,

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out of the white
House and then global

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macro across the board.

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But when you look at it
it's definitely risk on.

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You've had 3637 new higher
highs in the S&P 500.

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You're seeing the rotation of

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smaller caps especially in
the back of three cuts.

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The Russell has been on fire.

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It's making highs again the

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100 the composite the
Dow Jones Industrial

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18. New highs this year.

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So you're seeing it across

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all sectors across
all market caps.

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That means it's risk on.

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I read the you guys
probably saw today

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the Baml report this morning for

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December global fund managers.

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And it's showing the most
bullish reading since 2021.

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And cashes at the lowest
3.3% since that time frame.

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That's generally a sell
signal for most folks.

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So what you're seeing is that

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the retail investor,
institutional investors,

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everyone across the board is,

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in fact in the marketplace
where we are right now.

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And that macro theme is
kind of interesting,

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where you're seeing the
data finally getting

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caught up after the shutdown.

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But more importantly, the
main theme is still AI.

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But now you're seeing
a broadening to

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the other sectors and
starting to catch up.

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So the question with the
AI theme now is ROI,

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which we're talking
about before,

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and then a lot of the bills.

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So the infrastructure play there

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is a little bit in
question right now,

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especially on the ROI
for that as well.

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Of course. I mean, these
companies have to be able to

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justify their investments
and figure out what,

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you know, the
thousand use cases,

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which two are going to
show the most value.

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But on the good part
about the AI part,

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and this is everything.

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Everybody already knows
that the companies at

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the forefront are
using their own cash.

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They're using profits.

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They're not borrowing.
For the most part,

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it is a little mixed
together, shall we say.

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Um, circular.

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Circular is a great word
that everyone likes to use.

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I was trying to fix
something else, but okay.

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Chris, here's an interesting
question in terms of

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how Rias are using AI,

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is it a story of the
haves and the have nots?

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Are you seeing value to

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those who are using
it, or vice versa.

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Well, I feel like we're on

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the precipice where I
always tell people,

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when you're a registered
investment advisor,

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there are two parts
to your practice.

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There's the part of
getting your, you know,

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getting prospects,
converting them to clients,

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bringing the assets in.

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And then there's the
the section where

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you have to actually
manage the money.

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And I feel like we're

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kind of we're looking
over the edge like,

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hey, what can we use
to get new clients in?

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I mean, there's a
lot of products

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out there database s****ing,

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email, etc., to kind of
identify your perfect client.

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So those are there.

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But the question is, is
how do you use that?

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And in some cases,

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I mean, I'm not a politician,

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but if I was running for office,

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I think in the next
couple of years,

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just like we have
to be very careful

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with our medical information,

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your data that's
out there is now

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being s****ed and sold
to God knows who.

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And at some point, people are
going to go, hey, no mas.

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One of the most fun things

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I've been doing in the
last couple of days,

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and this is my New
Year's resolution,

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is to unsubscribe from all of

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those emails and texts that

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you're getting that I
never signed up for it.

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They just come back.
They're like cockroaches.

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Yeah, they come back. So,
you know, my point is,

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is that AI is close
on acquiring clients.

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I don't think we're there yet.

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But then also on on
managing portfolios,

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I've, you know,
looked at a lot of

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software packages,
interviewed them.

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It's also close, but it's
not quite there yet.

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You still I don't care

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where we go with
artificial intelligence.

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You still need human intelligence
eyeballing it going.

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Does that make
sense or does not.

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Does it make not make sense to

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in this particular situation,
especially for individuals?

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I mean, you know, we have
a good sized practice.

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You know, we focus
on law enforcement,

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but everybody's the same.

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But yet everybody's
situation is different.

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And so you can't like
say with AI, hey,

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everybody's going to
should be doing maxing out

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their 457 or 401
K or doing this.

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You still have to look at

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each person on an
individual level,

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which we're not there yet with.

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I would say a third
component too.

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Regardless of where we are
with AI as a fiduciary.

255
00:09:12,810 --> 00:09:14,869
There are things that
you need to comply with,

256
00:09:14,869 --> 00:09:17,450
whether there's regulation
in place for that or not.

257
00:09:17,450 --> 00:09:19,590
The guardrails are there
you need to comply with,

258
00:09:19,590 --> 00:09:21,770
and if AI makes a mistake,
it's still on you.

259
00:09:21,770 --> 00:09:24,190
Absolutely. And I don't
really think people

260
00:09:24,190 --> 00:09:26,870
have thought through the
process of the guardrails.

261
00:09:26,870 --> 00:09:27,929
And like I said,

262
00:09:27,929 --> 00:09:28,950
I think we're going to have

263
00:09:28,950 --> 00:09:31,350
a big privacy data situation

264
00:09:31,350 --> 00:09:32,470
coming in the next
couple of years

265
00:09:32,470 --> 00:09:33,550
because people are
going to be like,

266
00:09:33,550 --> 00:09:35,029
my data is all over the place,

267
00:09:35,029 --> 00:09:36,250
and AI is, you know,

268
00:09:36,250 --> 00:09:39,549
all of a sudden one
you probably were

269
00:09:39,549 --> 00:09:40,789
within months of you getting

270
00:09:40,789 --> 00:09:43,449
a phone call sounding
like it's somebody going,

271
00:09:43,449 --> 00:09:45,010
hey, Jill, you know,

272
00:09:45,010 --> 00:09:48,930
I saw that you were
looking at XYZ on Amazon.

273
00:09:48,930 --> 00:09:50,650
We have a special today on that.

274
00:09:50,650 --> 00:09:53,450
I think that's where you could
end up crossing the line.

275
00:09:53,450 --> 00:09:55,970
Well, I mean, which is
so interesting, Chris,

276
00:09:55,970 --> 00:09:59,410
because I have an Apple
Watch on a number of us,

277
00:09:59,410 --> 00:10:01,110
you know, have fitness trackers.

278
00:10:01,110 --> 00:10:03,130
Was your first thing
about your Fi,

279
00:10:03,130 --> 00:10:05,329
your personal health information
when you're inputting

280
00:10:05,329 --> 00:10:08,090
your stats and the goals
that you want to achieve.

281
00:10:08,090 --> 00:10:11,210
That's that's a direct
HIPAA violation,

282
00:10:11,210 --> 00:10:14,390
but not on the consumer
side of things.

283
00:10:14,390 --> 00:10:16,049
There is nothing
to regulate that.

284
00:10:16,049 --> 00:10:18,809
And it's it brings

285
00:10:18,809 --> 00:10:21,549
up a caveat because
they're going to expand,

286
00:10:21,549 --> 00:10:23,809
just like all the other
expansions you've seen over

287
00:10:23,809 --> 00:10:26,530
time into data security issues.

288
00:10:26,530 --> 00:10:28,189
They're going to push as
far as they can until

289
00:10:28,189 --> 00:10:31,150
somebody pushes back and
we're not there yet.

290
00:10:31,150 --> 00:10:32,530
And because they don't know

291
00:10:32,530 --> 00:10:33,970
what they have and
what they don't have,

292
00:10:33,970 --> 00:10:35,390
and that's the whole point.

293
00:10:35,390 --> 00:10:37,309
Just going back to
the market itself,

294
00:10:37,309 --> 00:10:39,390
you know, what's the
ROI on the investment?

295
00:10:39,390 --> 00:10:41,330
We don't know what
that's going to be,

296
00:10:41,330 --> 00:10:43,049
but we know there's
going to be something

297
00:10:43,049 --> 00:10:44,910
at the end of this
yellow brick road.

298
00:10:44,910 --> 00:10:45,769
Hopefully it's something that's

299
00:10:45,769 --> 00:10:46,830
going to pay everybody back.

300
00:10:46,830 --> 00:10:48,530
And if that's something
that we have to push,

301
00:10:48,530 --> 00:10:51,090
it's definitely something
that they're going to do.

302
00:10:51,090 --> 00:10:53,790
Yeah. It just makes me scared.

303
00:10:53,790 --> 00:10:55,230
Yeah. Same as you Chris.

304
00:10:55,230 --> 00:10:56,290
Well, Michael, let's talk

305
00:10:56,290 --> 00:10:57,369
about inflation
for a moment here,

306
00:10:57,369 --> 00:11:01,410
because what I'm hearing
anecdotally seems to be

307
00:11:01,410 --> 00:11:03,690
very divorced from the data that

308
00:11:03,690 --> 00:11:06,150
we're seeing and what's
happening in the market.

309
00:11:06,150 --> 00:11:07,350
Right. All we hear about is

310
00:11:07,350 --> 00:11:11,400
unaffordability and insurance
electricity prices at the,

311
00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:13,460
you know, food store
are so much higher.

312
00:11:13,460 --> 00:11:15,020
It seems very
divorced from this.

313
00:11:15,020 --> 00:11:18,100
You know, this good feeling
that we're having here.

314
00:11:18,100 --> 00:11:20,220
Yeah. I mean, the data
is saying, right.

315
00:11:20,220 --> 00:11:22,120
Inflation is close to 3%.

316
00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:24,200
But the reality is if you're
looking that's talking

317
00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:26,480
about just the last
12 month period,

318
00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:29,220
but we're six six years
out from Covid, right.

319
00:11:29,220 --> 00:11:31,000
And in that Covid
period it's more like

320
00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:33,560
2,530% that prices have gone up.

321
00:11:33,560 --> 00:11:35,259
So even though they're
not going up as fast,

322
00:11:35,259 --> 00:11:37,760
they've just gone up so much
in that last six years.

323
00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,059
And prior to that
six year period,

324
00:11:40,059 --> 00:11:44,080
we had a few decades of really
low and steady inflation,

325
00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:45,920
and so people just
weren't used to it.

326
00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,419
And even though
we've had, you know,

327
00:11:48,419 --> 00:11:49,600
people are surprised
to hear that

328
00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:51,519
wage growth kept
up with inflation,

329
00:11:51,519 --> 00:11:52,719
but it didn't really surpass

330
00:11:52,719 --> 00:11:54,580
inflation that much that
people are feeling.

331
00:11:54,580 --> 00:11:56,500
They feel like they're
kind of running in place.

332
00:11:56,500 --> 00:11:58,219
Right. It's been six years where

333
00:11:58,219 --> 00:12:00,240
you're not really any
better off than you were.

334
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,239
If you're looking at
aggregate wage data

335
00:12:02,239 --> 00:12:03,800
and aggregate inflation data.

336
00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:06,440
And so I think that's really
where the the disconnect is,

337
00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:08,919
where inflation is
generally heading in

338
00:12:08,919 --> 00:12:11,710
a positive direction
lower if you especially

339
00:12:11,710 --> 00:12:13,190
if you strip out
goods inflation if

340
00:12:13,190 --> 00:12:14,810
you're focusing on
services and I think

341
00:12:14,810 --> 00:12:16,269
the forward looking data for

342
00:12:16,269 --> 00:12:18,550
goods inflation as well
is relatively positive.

343
00:12:18,550 --> 00:12:20,089
If you're looking at PMIs,

344
00:12:20,089 --> 00:12:21,670
the prices data
that they have in

345
00:12:21,670 --> 00:12:23,109
there suggests that that peak

346
00:12:23,109 --> 00:12:26,230
in goods inflation is
only a few months away.

347
00:12:26,230 --> 00:12:27,590
So we'll start seeing

348
00:12:27,590 --> 00:12:30,190
goods and services inflation
both slowing down.

349
00:12:30,190 --> 00:12:31,670
But that doesn't
change the fact that

350
00:12:31,670 --> 00:12:33,270
the aggregate increase in

351
00:12:33,270 --> 00:12:35,449
prices that we've seen over
the last several years

352
00:12:35,449 --> 00:12:36,770
is so much,

353
00:12:36,770 --> 00:12:38,309
you know, out of the norm

354
00:12:38,309 --> 00:12:39,630
from what people
were dealing with.

355
00:12:39,630 --> 00:12:41,090
I want to make a point to that.

356
00:12:41,090 --> 00:12:44,350
One of the things that we
are hyper focused on in 2026

357
00:12:44,350 --> 00:12:47,590
with the inflation is that
if I was the fed chairman,

358
00:12:47,590 --> 00:12:51,270
I would be watching crude
oil futures like a hawk.

359
00:12:51,270 --> 00:12:53,610
They've been breaking
down recently.

360
00:12:53,610 --> 00:12:56,809
Uh, if crude oil
continues its descent,

361
00:12:56,809 --> 00:12:59,550
um, that's going to be
really good for inflation.

362
00:12:59,550 --> 00:13:00,850
For inflation.

363
00:13:00,850 --> 00:13:02,490
The question is
does it tip over to

364
00:13:02,490 --> 00:13:05,690
deflation where prices
keep cascading lower?

365
00:13:05,690 --> 00:13:08,329
Now, you know, having
said that, you know,

366
00:13:08,329 --> 00:13:10,630
if we get gasoline and gasoline
right now in some parts

367
00:13:10,630 --> 00:13:12,940
of the country is 179 a gallon,

368
00:13:12,940 --> 00:13:14,560
which is very low.

369
00:13:14,560 --> 00:13:16,500
You know, oil is an input

370
00:13:16,500 --> 00:13:18,960
to everything manufactured, etc.

371
00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:21,680
if you can take away a big
chunk of inflation with that,

372
00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:24,320
having rents come down,
keep labor steady.

373
00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:25,880
Maybe we're in that nirvana.

374
00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:27,080
I don't know if we are.

375
00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:28,240
But again, I you know,

376
00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:29,940
the fed policy mistake.

377
00:13:29,940 --> 00:13:32,140
You know, a new fed
governor in 26.

378
00:13:32,140 --> 00:13:34,080
And what's he going to do.

379
00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:35,259
And if he's saying, well,

380
00:13:35,259 --> 00:13:36,799
we're going to keep on
bringing, you know,

381
00:13:36,799 --> 00:13:37,980
short term rates down,

382
00:13:37,980 --> 00:13:39,500
we don't care about inflation.

383
00:13:39,500 --> 00:13:42,300
That works as long as the
price of oil goes down.

384
00:13:42,300 --> 00:13:43,580
But if it doesn't and if there's

385
00:13:43,580 --> 00:13:45,079
some other drivers out there,

386
00:13:45,079 --> 00:13:46,100
you know, then
we're back in that

387
00:13:46,100 --> 00:13:47,920
inflation boogeyman for 26.

388
00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:48,940
Yeah I mean the fed funds.

389
00:13:48,940 --> 00:13:51,140
Futures are pricing in
three quarter point cuts

390
00:13:51,140 --> 00:13:53,420
for next year already
anyway regardless.

391
00:13:53,420 --> 00:13:55,779
So if that does
happen and there is

392
00:13:55,779 --> 00:13:57,240
a policy mistake that could be

393
00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:59,040
a major problem for the
markets as a whole.

394
00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:01,199
But when will the AI
spend be enough to

395
00:14:01,199 --> 00:14:03,460
pull everyone
forward right there.

396
00:14:03,460 --> 00:14:05,840
So it's a big item to watch.

397
00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:07,299
Well, I mean, your key sectors

398
00:14:07,299 --> 00:14:09,440
on the desk are
retail and consumer.

399
00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:11,600
So we've heard about
what the data is saying.

400
00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:12,940
You know, we've heard
about what we think

401
00:14:12,940 --> 00:14:14,170
the market's going to do.

402
00:14:14,170 --> 00:14:16,310
What are our issuers
telling you.

403
00:14:16,310 --> 00:14:19,030
So a lot of it's been
very interesting.

404
00:14:19,030 --> 00:14:21,750
There's still on going
back to inflation,

405
00:14:21,750 --> 00:14:24,110
the still significant
uncertainty

406
00:14:24,110 --> 00:14:25,610
around tariffs and how

407
00:14:25,610 --> 00:14:26,790
that's going to
impact the consumer.

408
00:14:26,790 --> 00:14:30,030
You still have the K shape
on the consumer spend right.

409
00:14:30,030 --> 00:14:31,529
The wealth effect is
definitely there for

410
00:14:31,529 --> 00:14:32,770
higher earners with

411
00:14:32,770 --> 00:14:34,450
the portfolios and
the home ownership.

412
00:14:34,450 --> 00:14:36,210
And the lower income earners are

413
00:14:36,210 --> 00:14:38,290
definitely suffering a
bit here doing without.

414
00:14:38,290 --> 00:14:40,889
Um, there's been a
downturn for some items,

415
00:14:40,889 --> 00:14:42,230
which is kind of interesting.

416
00:14:42,230 --> 00:14:45,090
Some of the store brands

417
00:14:45,090 --> 00:14:47,110
are not seeing the action
that they thought.

418
00:14:47,110 --> 00:14:49,750
The prices have been a little
bit higher than thought.

419
00:14:49,750 --> 00:14:52,390
So people are doing
without on that end.

420
00:14:52,390 --> 00:14:54,430
You are seeing dollar
stores do better.

421
00:14:54,430 --> 00:14:56,190
You're seeing off
brand like Ross Stores

422
00:14:56,190 --> 00:14:58,149
and TJ Maxx doing much better.

423
00:14:58,149 --> 00:14:58,650
Always do.

424
00:14:58,650 --> 00:15:01,510
Better. They do well
because their Dollar Tree,

425
00:15:01,510 --> 00:15:03,250
Dollar General and
the dollar stores are

426
00:15:03,250 --> 00:15:05,570
sourcing a lot of
it outside the US.

427
00:15:05,570 --> 00:15:07,650
And they finally figured
out the supply chain.

428
00:15:07,650 --> 00:15:09,889
And they're seeing better
margins because they're

429
00:15:09,889 --> 00:15:12,910
monitoring their inventory and
they're doing much better.

430
00:15:12,910 --> 00:15:15,039
When you're looking
at the discounters

431
00:15:15,039 --> 00:15:17,280
to buying supply that's
already in the US.

432
00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:18,840
So they're not
affected by tariffs.

433
00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:20,000
So they continue to do well.

434
00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:21,120
And people like to go for

435
00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:22,920
the treasure hunt when they
walk into those stores.

436
00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:24,800
So that's still there
especially at this time of

437
00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:27,680
the year what you're
seeing in staples.

438
00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:29,120
So Walmart's now Nasdaq

439
00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:31,440
listed and it's trading
at all time highs.

440
00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:33,080
Thank you.

441
00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:35,840
The team worked hard on that
I was not part of that team.

442
00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:39,400
Um but they're seeing
brand come across.

443
00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:40,679
So they're seeing omnichannel

444
00:15:40,679 --> 00:15:43,180
digital to the main items
that have been working well.

445
00:15:43,180 --> 00:15:44,999
Plus they're seeing a
trade down effect from

446
00:15:44,999 --> 00:15:47,419
the higher income earners
shopping at that store,

447
00:15:47,419 --> 00:15:48,840
making the dollar
go a little bit

448
00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:51,220
longer for the brands
that they want to get,

449
00:15:51,220 --> 00:15:55,720
and not necessarily on staples
but also on discretionary.

450
00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:57,180
So you're seeing a lot of

451
00:15:57,180 --> 00:15:59,420
good import there.
It depends though.

452
00:15:59,420 --> 00:16:00,919
There's going to be lots
of winners and losers,

453
00:16:00,919 --> 00:16:02,039
as you can see with a number of

454
00:16:02,039 --> 00:16:03,799
other companies as
well who have been

455
00:16:03,799 --> 00:16:07,200
big name brands are being hurt

456
00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:08,980
because there is
no trade down in

457
00:16:08,980 --> 00:16:11,019
their portfolio for the
products that they have.

458
00:16:11,019 --> 00:16:12,320
Yeah, yeah. Well, Chris,
it's interesting.

459
00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:14,020
I mean, retail is always
going to be idiosyncratic.

460
00:16:14,020 --> 00:16:15,550
Right. And then, you know,

461
00:16:15,550 --> 00:16:17,950
the long term strategy over
the past decade that Walmart

462
00:16:17,950 --> 00:16:20,410
instituted was was
brilliant, right?

463
00:16:20,410 --> 00:16:22,249
I mean, they're they're

464
00:16:22,249 --> 00:16:23,470
they're worth the
price that they're.

465
00:16:23,470 --> 00:16:23,730
At.

466
00:16:23,730 --> 00:16:25,970
Amazon Walmart category killers.

467
00:16:25,970 --> 00:16:30,129
I mean, you see you go to the
mall nowadays and you know,

468
00:16:30,129 --> 00:16:31,870
you see all the
different stores that

469
00:16:31,870 --> 00:16:33,830
are empty and
they're repurposing

470
00:16:33,830 --> 00:16:35,749
malls into other things

471
00:16:35,749 --> 00:16:37,770
that you can do where you
have a lot of parking,

472
00:16:37,770 --> 00:16:43,050
etc.. Um, and so people are
becoming even more savvy now.

473
00:16:43,050 --> 00:16:44,669
I talked a little bit about

474
00:16:44,669 --> 00:16:47,390
how AI has some negative
aspects. To me.

475
00:16:47,390 --> 00:16:48,529
One of the biggest aspects,

476
00:16:48,529 --> 00:16:52,730
positive aspects is ChatGPT
for comparing prices.

477
00:16:52,730 --> 00:16:55,050
And, you know, going on
the internet and say,

478
00:16:55,050 --> 00:16:56,830
show me the ten best prices

479
00:16:56,830 --> 00:16:59,010
for cars in our particular area.

480
00:16:59,010 --> 00:17:01,030
I think, you know, the
search engine companies,

481
00:17:01,030 --> 00:17:03,049
whether it's Google
and Microsoft,

482
00:17:03,049 --> 00:17:06,549
going to be able to retool
so that consumers can

483
00:17:06,549 --> 00:17:08,510
really hyper focus on

484
00:17:08,510 --> 00:17:10,490
what the really good
deals are out there.

485
00:17:10,490 --> 00:17:12,110
You know, it's interesting
that you're talking

486
00:17:12,110 --> 00:17:14,410
about repurposing
traditional malls.

487
00:17:14,410 --> 00:17:17,440
I mean, Walmart, are
anchoring some of them now,

488
00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:19,959
or you're seeing more
lifestyle like gyms or

489
00:17:19,959 --> 00:17:22,220
big box stores starting
to anchor them

490
00:17:22,220 --> 00:17:25,140
versus traditional
department stores.

491
00:17:25,140 --> 00:17:27,400
Yeah, and that trend continues.

492
00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:29,600
I mean, the consumer, you know,

493
00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:31,079
when the day is
done, the consumer

494
00:17:31,079 --> 00:17:32,420
is always extremely savvy.

495
00:17:32,420 --> 00:17:34,260
They know where they're going
to spend their dollars and

496
00:17:34,260 --> 00:17:36,480
they drive the US economy.

497
00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:37,980
And so again, one of

498
00:17:37,980 --> 00:17:40,500
our other themes and obviously
we have to wrap up here,

499
00:17:40,500 --> 00:17:41,740
but we've been pounding

500
00:17:41,740 --> 00:17:43,860
the table on small
mid-cap stocks.

501
00:17:43,860 --> 00:17:45,419
And we think 26 is finally

502
00:17:45,419 --> 00:17:47,200
the year we saw it at
the end of the year.

503
00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:49,759
But again, onshoring
manufacturing,

504
00:17:49,759 --> 00:17:51,900
lower short term interest rates.

505
00:17:51,900 --> 00:17:54,599
You know, things
like AI go right to

506
00:17:54,599 --> 00:17:57,980
the bottom line for
small mid-cap companies.

507
00:17:57,980 --> 00:17:59,679
And, you know, we
think that theme

508
00:17:59,679 --> 00:18:01,480
finally plays out in 26.

509
00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:03,300
All right. And we
will wrap it there.

510
00:18:03,300 --> 00:18:05,060
Thanks for joining
us on trade talks.

511
00:18:05,060 --> 00:18:06,420
And thanks for joining
me from market site.

512
00:18:06,420 --> 00:18:10,060
I'm Jill Malandrino global
markets reporter at Nasdaq.